Tomato fight a rotten idea

American tomato growers -- in Florida, mostly, but also in Arizona -- asked the Obama administration to reconsider a 16-year-old agreement with Mexico to import tomatoes.

The Florida growers, critics fear, are using the fact that their state is an important swing state to persuade the administration to abandon a produce-importing agreement they have disliked from the beginning.

The consequences of abandoning a long-standing deal with an important trading partner could be significant. Former U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., leads the opposition to dropping the arrangement, by which Mexican tomato growers agreed to market their products at prices that would not seriously undercut those of American growers.

According to Kolbe, killing the "suspension agreement," as it is known, could lead to tariffs on Mexican vine-ripened tomatoes, which could set off a trade war, which could jeopardize the entire U.S. produce industry. Apple growers in Washington state who ship their produce south of the border fear a trade war could threaten their industry. The collateral damage could be widespread.

"Among states hardest hit would be my own home state of Arizona," wrote Kolbe in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. "Mexico is a major export market for many U.S. industries, including agricultural giants such as pork, beef, poultry, grains and vegetable producers. This could be the target for retaliation that might follow from Florida's protectionist efforts."

Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, as well as Reps. Jeff Flake, Paul Gosar and Ron Barber, have written the secretary of Commerce expressing their grave concern that abandoning the suspension agreement could have a "chilling effect" on trade with Mexico, threatening American jobs in the process.

The U.S. imported about $1.8 billion worth of tomatoes from Mexico last year.

Protectionism is antithetical to the wealth-creating value of free trade embodied in the North American Free Trade Agreement. If Mexican growers had violated that agreement, that would be one thing. But no one is seriously alleging that.

This appeal, filed in June, smacks of political opportunism.

American growers have had a tough year with killing heat and widespread drought. But provoking a trade war with Mexico is not a responsible resolution to those woes.

And, rest assured, Mexican growers are sufficiently alarmed at this provocation that they see a full-blown trade war as a consequence.

"If these Florida growers are successful in reigniting this trade war all over again, it will have an enormous negative impact on industries on both sides of the border and prices will increase significantly for U.S. consumers," said Rosario Beltran, chairman of Mexico's horticultural commission.

If there are legitimate issues with the floor price of Mexican tomatoes, they should be worked out in the context of a new agreement.

But throwing out the agreement benefits no one, including, and especially, American consumers.